Son of a Noble
by WhispersOfAQuill
Summary: There is a Gryffindor boy in Hermione's year who she has never noticed before. As Head Girl, she kicks herself for never noticing this boy before, but he has a reason for keeping himself unknown and he seems to have a secret. Hermione loves a good mystery. AU.
1. Flicker of a Silver Shade

**The Son of a Noble**

Chapter 1: Flicker of a Silver Shade

* * *

It was the Trio's final year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and for some reason they weren't expecting anything too far out of the ordinary to happen. Of course the ordinary for Harry, Ron, and Hermione is quite different than anyone else's ordinary, but they still did not see the shock that was heading their way. Almost literally at the moment.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were walking down for breakfast at the Great Hall. They were talking and laughing, and why shouldn't they? Harry defeated Voldemort just this past May and while it took awhile to rebuild and get everything running again, everything was rebuilt and running again. Best of all, they had all made it through the battle alive. There were, of course, casualties, but no immediate family was harmed other than minor injuries. The Trio were walking through the halls, discussing how they were glad it was Saturday and that they could sleep in this particular morning. Harry and Hermione were named Heads this year and had been assigned a late shift for making rounds the previous night so they were glad to get some extra sleep this morning. And Ron- well Ron always likes to sleep as late as possible anyway.

The three were just making their way around a corner near the Great Hall, discussing how they could smell the food from where they were, when someone else also turned the corner and bumped right into Hermione, making her lose her balance and fall to the floor. Harry and Ron were at her side in an instant to make sure that she was okay. Hermione looked at each of them and said that she was fine and then looked at the one who had knocked her down. He looked to be about her age with a handsome face and he was tall, probably a little taller than Harry, with soft blue eyes ('or were they grey?' Hermione thought) and dark brown hair that dangled in his eyes.

"I'm sorry, are you alright?" he asked while reaching out a hand to help Hermione up, but Harry and Ron were already picking her up.

"It's okay," Hermione smiled, "no harm done." The boy nodded and walked in the direction that Harry, Ron, and Hermione had just come from.

Once they made their way into the Great Hall, Hermione asked the boys, "Who was that, anyway?".

"Alexander Emerson. He's a Gryffindor in our year," Harry explained while piling seemingly as much food as possible onto his plate. Had Hermione not been shocked by this information, she would have wondered whether Harry was planning on eating all that food or if he just thought it was fun to make a mountain out of food. However, Hermione was surprised, and lowered her fork and her jaw while glancing from Harry to Ron.

"You're joking," she said after a moment. Harry and Ron both shook their heads to indicate they were being serious. She dropped her fork on the table, almost knocking over her pumpkin juice, and felt disgusted with herself. "Some Head Girl I am. I can't even keep track of the people in my own house in my own year! Why haven't I seen him in our classes or in the common room or _anywhere_ before?" she asked while crossing her arms over her chest. Harry and Ron looked amused.

"He is in our classes," Harry insisted.

"And our common room," Ron added.

"But why haven't I seen him?" she asked exasperatedly.

"Well, he's real quiet and likes to keep to himself," Harry explained to her nonchalantly. Hermione didn't look satisfied. Harry shoveled some food into his mouth.

"We always used to joke that he could make himself invisible because no one ever realized when he was around," Ron smiled, looking to Harry to see if he remembered.

"But don't you guys ever talk to him or anything?"

Harry frowned. "Opportunity never came up, I guess."

Hermione felt frustrated that she didn't know who this Alexander was and stood up to go seek him out.

"Where you going?" Ron asked. "You're not going to start a SPEW for people now are you?" Hermione just gave Ron a death glare. Fairly used to this after sever years of being around Hermione, Ron said, rather uselessly, to her retreating form, "Just leave the poor kid alone. He just likes to be by himself is all." And it was useless indeed as Hermione kept walking and vowed to at least meet Alexander and offer an ear if he ever wanted to talk. He seemed like a nice enough guy, though she couldn't figure out why he looked so familiar.

"Must be because I know I've seen him around before," she mumbled to herself as she was almost to the common room.

"Not good to talk to yourself, dearie," said the portrait of the Fat Lady. Hermione just gave her a look then spoke the password.

She entered her common room and looked around for the boy she accidentally ran into this morning. Her head felt like a searchlight after looking from side to side across the common room for a couple minutes. She sighed, finally giving up, realizing he must be elsewhere. Leaving the common room for her own room, Hermione went to go pick up a few books so that she could get homework done. It was only the end of the third week of school and already there was tons to do, but Hermione didn't mind. She was just exiting her room, which was the Heads room next to the Gryffindor common room, when she almost ran into the boy again. 'Alexander,' Hermione reminded herself. It was probably better to refer to him by his name rather than 'the boy'.

"Alexander!" she called to him. He stopped and looked at her in surprise. Hermione noted that he was carrying a letter. 'Good,' she thought, 'I'll be able to talk to him on my way to the library'.

"Hi, Hermione," he said quickly regaining his composure. His voice sounded so confident that Hermione wondered why he was the type to prefer to be alone. Hermione almost flushed realizing that he knew exactly who she was but she didn't know him prior to today.

"You, er, going to the Owlery?" she asked trying to make conversation.

"Yeah," he said waving the letter that was in his hand. "And you must be heading to the library." Hermione wondered briefly how he knew that, but almost slapped herself when she realized that she was carrying her bag full of book and parchment and that she was quite well known for being in the library a lot.

"Yeah," she responded slightly distracted. "I was wondering if I could talk to you for a minute?" Hermione took a step to indicate that they could walk while they talked.

"Sure," Alexander said now walking with her. "What about?" Hermione couldn't tell if his voice sounded somewhat nervous or if she was just imagining that. Perhaps the reason he was so shy was because he had something to hide. Hermione almost shook her head. He seemed honest enough, what would he possibly be hiding?

"I just feel bad that I haven't talked to you in awhile," she said to him deciding on the phrase 'in awhile' in case they had spoken before without her remembering. For some reason he was laughing.

"In awhile?" he questioned, though not unkindly.

"Alright," she admitted guiltily, "I feel bad that I haven't talked to you ever."

"And you're feeling guilty because you're Head Girl and you realize that we haven't talked once in the past six years?"

"Yes! Exactly," she said nodding, relieved that he understood and somewhat amazed at his ability to read people.

He didn't miss a beat as he added, "So you're telling me that if you weren't Head Girl right now, we wouldn't be having the conversation?"

Hermione stopped in her tracks and stared at him. He stopped as well a few steps ahead of her and turned around smiling. Reluctantly, she smiled back. "Are you purposely making this difficult for me?"

"I'll never tell," he smiled mysteriously and he turned to continue walking. Hermione caught back up to him.

They walked a few moments in silence, Hermione not knowing what to say after that discussion, and Alexander preferring not to talk. Finally, unsure of what else she could say, Hermione told him, "You look really familiar, you know? I just can't really place you."

"Perhaps you shouldn't try to. You might not like what you come up with."

"Are you always so dark?" Hermione wondered while looking over to him. He was keeping his emotions well hidden, but she did note that his eyes looked more grey now than blue.

"You could certainly say that," Alexander softly. Hermione shook her head, wondering why he was such a mystery. "Well," he said as they approached the place they had to separate, "you must go that way and I this way," he said indicating both directions.

"Okay, I'll talk to you later, Alexander."

"Call me Xander," he just smiled at her and turned in the direction of the Owlery. Hermione watched him go, silently wondering about him.

As much as she tried, Hermione couldn't get much work done. Her thoughts were on Xander. She wondered how she had never noticed him all these years and why he seemed so cryptic sometimes. He seemed nice enough, but he was definitely hiding something. And why did he look so familiar?

~.~.~.~.~

As Xander turned and walked away from Hermione, he let his smile fade. He didn't look it, or act it, but he was nervous. He decided a long time ago that he would not allow any one to get too close to him for fear of what they would find out. So he had learned to speak in riddles and to keep his life a mystery. The only problem, he knew, was that people liked to solve mysteries, but he also knew that he couldn't exactly speak plainly either.

Though he was pleased on one account. He was sure that Hermione had never recalled seeing him before today. Xander also learned how to disappear from people. Not literally, but just make himself unnoticed by others. Now after seven years, people either didn't know who he was or just knew that he liked his space. Either way was fine with him. It wasn't as if he didn't long for a friend, because he did, although he knew it was impossible under his circumstances. Friends got to know each other and he was terrified of what would happen if someone got to know him well enough to know the secret he has been hiding for all 17 years of his life. 'No,' he thought, 'I won't allow anyone to get so close. My silver shade must not flicker.'

"Aeris," he called once he was in the Owlery. Xander held his hand up as only friend flew down to him. She looked at him with intelligent eyes and cocked her head, sensing that something was wrong. "It's alright, Aeris," he said softly to her. "I was just talking to someone. You know how I don't like to do that." And with that he began to tell her of what had happened today. As his only friend, he told her everything that went on in his life, and he knew that she listened.

"Take this message to Mum, please?" he asked handing her the letter. Aeris cooed softly and allowed Xander to attach the message. "You can stay with her for a few days. I'm sure she'd love your company. But don't let on that anything is wrong, alright? Everything will be fine here. I'm probably just overreacting. I'll just disappear like I always do and I'm sure Hermione will forget about me soon enough." Aeris nipped his hand, hooted softly, and took off. Xander watched as she flew majestically out of the window and continued to watch until he couldn't see her any longer. With a sigh, he made his way out of the Owlery and wondered how many more letters he would ever be able to send his mother.

~.~.~.~.~

Xander apparently did not know Hermione Granger nearly well enough because although he was sure he could disappear and have her forget about him, Hermione did not let a mystery escape her so easily. After all, she had figured out who Professor Lupin was in her third year so surely she could figure out who her own classmate was. But as much as she tried to find an opportunity to talk to Xander over the next few days, it was just as the boys had said; the opportunity never came up.

* * *

AN: This is a story I started _ages_ ago that I'd like to continue working on. I currently have 4 chapters written and will be focused on editing and creating new chapters. Please let me know how you like it so far!

WhispersOfAQuill


	2. Crossing Invisible Lines

**Son of a Noble**

Chapter 2: Crossing Invisible Lines

* * *

"There you are!" Hermione said in an excited whisper as she found Xander in the back corner of the library. There were stacks of books all around him. Xander groaned softly to himself, but turned and smiled calmly at her.

"Oh, hey, Hermione. Were you looking for me?" he replied calmly, as if he didn't already know she had been seeking him.

"Only for the past week! How is it that you are never any where to be found?" she wondered, searching his face for any hints. His features remained calm.

Xander winked at her. "That's my secret." He turned back to his work.

"Come on, Xander," she said taking a seat across from him.

He glanced up at her. "We're going somewhere are we?" He smiled softly. Confidently. Maybe a little cocky at his own humor. Hermione's face brightened, the look she wears when she has the most brilliant idea.

"Yes," she replied smoothly, "I will go wherever you go today." She grinned triumphantly.

Xander smiled back at her, amused. "So you will be my stalker." Hermione's triumphant smile faltered.

"What? Wait – no – I –," she paused and gathered her thoughts. "I just wanted to see where you go all the time."

Xander leaned in close to Hermione. He whispered, "Sounds like a stalker to me." He smiled softly as he straightened up. "Besides, you might not want to know where I go."

"Why not?"

"Well, my walks frequently consisted of strolls out of the castle, through the Forbidden Forest, and into Muggle towns to tell them magical stories of witches and wizards." A light danced in his eyes while he spoke. Hermione didn't appear happy.

"Why do you always push people away?" she asked to Xander's surprise. He was quickly learning that Hermione could be just as stubborn as he was.

He didn't falter as he said, "I don't like people. Bad experiences, you understand."

"Actually, I don't," Hermione said, folding her arms across her chest.

Xander stared at her for a long moment. She stared back, waiting for some kind of an explanation. His eyes hardened. "My father left my mother before I was even born. I'm sorry if I have people issues."

Hermione's features softened. She looked down, embarrassed. "Xander," she spoke softly, "I-"

"I keep to myself and I'm fine with it." He gathered his things to leave. Hermione still sat stunned. As Xander walked away, Hermione bit her lip nervously before standing to go after him. He was in the hallway by the time Hermione caught up to him. He ignored her footsteps behind him.

"Xander, please wait," she called to him. He sighed and stopped, but didn't turn around. Hermione came and stood next to him. When Xander didn't look at her, she frowned and put her hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry," she said softly to him. He stole a glance at her, anger still in his storm-colored eyes.

"Okay," he said quietly and began to walk away again. Hermione stepped in front of him to stop him.

"Xander – "

"Yes, Hermione?" Xander spoke loudly to indicate his annoyance. "You aren't satisfied yet? You wanted more information about me? How I grew up without a father? Or how about how my mother has been sick for years and no one can figure out what's wrong with her? Is that what you wanted to hear?" He spoke calmly, as if he were merely talking about the weather rather than the most personal aspects of his life. Xander was grateful the hallway appeared to be empty.

Hermione stared up at him with tears in her brown eyes. Xander stared back trying not to feel badly. She finally looked away and with a sniff, she stormed past him. He frowned as he watched her walk briskly down the hallway. 'It had to be done,' he reminded himself. He tried to ignore the fact that he could still feel the place where her hand had been on his shoulder.

~.~.~.~.~

Hermione slowly made her way back to the common room. She knew that Xander was pushing her away to protect himself, but no matter who is pushing you away or why, it still hurt. She took a deep breath, spoke the password, and entered the common room. Spotting Harry and Ron in the armchairs by the fire, Hermione made her way over to them. Harry looked up as she sat.

"Hermione, what's the matter?" Harry asked. Even though she had stopped in the bathroom on the way back to the common room, Hermione's eyes were still red and puffy.

Ron looked up at her too. "What happened? I'll kill whoever did this to you," he said brandishing his wand and looking around suspiciously.

Hermione just smiled at their protectiveness. "Oh stop it, Ronald. I'm fine and nothing has happened. I was just in the library."

Ron slowly put his wand away. His eyes still looked suspicious. "I thought the library was your best friend. I didn't think it could ever make you cry."

Hermione rolled her eyes at him. "I was talking to Xander, Ronald."

"He always seemed nice enough," Harry said thoughtfully. "What'd he say that made you so upset?"

She waved away the question. "It was my own fault." Ron still looked murderous and Hermione noted that his wand was back in his hand. "I was just asking him some personal questions and he got upset with me."

Harry nodded in understanding, but Ron said, "I'll kill him." Hermione glared at him.

"Would you calm down? He just likes his space," she scolded.

Harry looked sheepish. "We did try to tell you," he mumbled.

"I know, alright? I got it. Game over. Mission aborted. Satisfied?" She glared first at Harry, then over at Ron. "I'm going to get some work done," she huffed. She gathered her bags and left the common room for her own room.

Harry and Ron looked at one another, both wearing slightly frightened looks. "This kid sure knows how to push Hermione's buttons," Harry noted.

~.~.~.~.~

The bleak mid-October sky mirrored the feelings of Hermione and Xander. Hermione stopped trying to spot Xander everywhere she went. She knew she shouldn't hold a grudge. It really wasn't his fault he was so scared to let people get close to him, but she was upset from their encounter all the same.

Xander was just happy that she appeared to have given up. He was so nervous that someone would figure him out that he didn't want to give anyone the opportunity to try. He was angry with himself for giving Hermione so much information about himself. He wasn't upset with her. He could be, he knew. She was pushy considering they barely knew each other. But he was the one who let his guard down and spoke the words he had worked so hard to keep hidden. Luckily, he didn't let his most guarded secret out.

He sighed as he thought back to Hermione. It was one thing to see her from a distance, it was another thing to have her talk to you, to see the fierce look in her eye when trying to figure something out, to see her face brighten as she gets an idea, to see her eyes soften and her cheeks flush when she realizes she has done something wrong. Yet he would detest seeing the look of hate in her eyes and know it was directed at him. Because she would hate him if she knew all of the things he worked so hard to keep hidden. He didn't want to be hated. Just left alone, unknown about, mysterious. Hermione could never understand why he had to keep to himself so much. Pushing her away was for his own good, and hers.

Xander sat in the window of a forgotten corridor, closing his eyes against the peaceful, cool breeze that drifted in. A strange feeling in his chest countered the peaceful feeling of the breeze. As he stood to pace the moonlit halls, he realized he felt guilty for pushing Hermione away. 'Perhaps if I apologized, it would keep things neutral instead of any kind of negative or positive,' he pondered as he wandered.

~.~.~.~.~

Hermione was just about done with her rounds when she stopped by a window to look out across the grounds. It was a clear night. Her Head Girl badge glinted in the moonlight. She was pondering her own thoughts when she heard footsteps behind her. Spinning quickly, she pulled her wand out. When she spotted who the footsteps belonged to, she lowered her wand, but kept it in hand.

"Malfoy," she said softly with a hint of malice.

"Granger. Lovely to see you as well," he returned. "What are you doing out so late?" he asked while taking slow steps towards her.

"I could ask you the same thing," Hermione told him as she stood up straighter. She grew nervous as his steps were coming closer and closer, but she was determined not to let it show.

"I? I have as much right to be out as you do, maybe even more so," Malfoy said softly. He was in arms reach of Hermione, but she didn't move.

"Go back to bed, Malfoy," she glared at him.

He replied with a smirk. "Only if you come with me."

Hermione's jaw dropped. Malfoy took advantage of her surprise and took the last remaining step, forcing her back against the wall. She recovered quickly and slapped him hard against the face.

"Get away from me, ferret," she spoke softly, but dangerously. He rubbed at his cheek, which was turning red, but he smiled at her all the same. There was a strange glint in his cold, steel eyes which made Hermione shudder with fear.

"Now where is the fun in that?" He raised his hand, intending to touch her face, when a voice came from down the hall.

"Leave her alone, Draco. Surely you haven't been through everyone in Slytherin yet?" Hermione and Malfoy's attention snapped to Xander, who came towards them. Malfoy took a step back from Hermione and drew his wand.

"Emerson," Malfoy spit. "Leave it to you to break up my good time."

"Oddly enough, Draco, your good time isn't usually such a good time for anyone else." Malfoy looked enraged at this. While he was distracted, Hermione carefully made her way to Xander's side.

"Don't you have better things to do? Like attending to your mother, maybe?"

Xander felt his stomach plummet, but kept his face calm. "Shouldn't your mother be attending you? And where's daddy? I thought he was always by your side protecting you," Xander said smoothly.

Malfoy growled in response. He raised his wand, but glanced at Hermione, who also had her wand drawn, and then at Xander, who was lazily holding his wand, looking bored.

"You'll pay for this, Emerson," Malfoy said as he turned and walked in the direction of the dungeons.

"I'll expect your bill by owl, Draco," Xander called after him. Once he was sure Malfoy had gone, he turned to Hermione. "Are you alright?" Her face was white and she looked slightly shaken, but she said she was fine. Xander nodded, but was still concerned.

The two started walking back to the common room. They were silent, though both had things on their mind they wanted to say. Hermione broke the silence first.

"Xander?"

"Hm?"

Hermione stopped walking and faced him. Seeing that she had stopped, Xander did likewise. He gave her a questioning look, but she was staring at the floor. When she looked up, Xander could see unshed tears glistening in her eyes. She looked right into his eyes and said, "Thank you," as she took a step towards him and threw her arms around him. Xander stood shocked for a moment, but recovered and gently put his arms around her as well. He held her until she took a step back.

"I'm sorry, I got you all wet," she smiled slightly and brushed at his robes.

"It's alright, my robes needed a wash anyway," he smiled back at her. She laughed softly causing his heart to skip a beat. Xander suddenly looked down and thought about what he wanted to say. "Hermione," he started, looking back up and meeting her questioning eyes, "listen, about the other day-"

"Xander, please don't," she pleaded with him. "You don't have to say anything. I'm sorry, too." She placed her hand on his arm. He didn't let it fall away this time, but nodded gratefully at her. She took her hand away and they continued walking.

Xander noticed they were walking very close. If they were much closer, they would be touching. His mind tried to remind him not to let her get too close to him or for him to get too attached to her, but for once, he ignored his mind's warning.

"I think we should start over," Hermione said suddenly. Xander looked over at her.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, maybe not start over, but let's say that anything that has happened before tonight is insignificant. I promise, no more questions you don't want to answer and no stalking. Let's just be friends. Friends accept one another; past, present, and future. All of it. Deal?" There was a nervous look in her eyes as if she were afraid for him to decline.

"Is this like a minor form of asking me out?" he asked raising an eyebrow.

"Xander!" she cried and smacked his arm. She smiled at him. "I'm serious." Xander missed a step and almost tripped. Hermione laughed at him, but asked, "Are you okay?"

His heart was beating fast, but he said he was fine. He thought for awhile, and when they came to Hermione's portrait that led to her room, Xander held out his hand and said, "I accept," with a smile. She returned his smile and shook his hand.

"Good night, Xander," Hermione said before slipping into her room.

"Good night, Hermione," he replied to her retreating form. After staring at the portrait for a few more moments, Xander made his way back to his own room. That night, for the first time in a long time, he fell asleep quickly. Even more rarely, he fell asleep with a smile on his face.

* * *

**AN:** I basically had to rewrite this chapter from what I originally wrote years ago. Gave away too much too early. This is better though. On a side note, when I originally wrote the story, I had a Shinedown theme. I had a couple lines of lyrics to start off each chapter and each chapter title was the title of the song. However, since such things aren't allowed, I've had to improvise. But if you're a fan of the band, try to find the link between chapter title and song. It won't be identical to any lyrics, but will be based on them. Have fun!

Please let me know what you think so far. And thank you to everyone who has taken the time to review so far. Much appreciated.

_WhispersOfAQuill_


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